Air distributor



April 18, 1950 J. H. VAN ALSBURG EFAL 2,504,472

AIR DISTRIBUTOR Filed June 17, 1946 5 Sheets-Sheet l \Nvam'ogs deRoLo H.\IANA.SBURG \JJlLLIAM C. DE Roo April 18, 1950 J. H. VAN ALSBURG ET AL 'AIR DISTRIBUTOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 17, 1946 \Nv ENTORS VAN ALSBURG daRoLD WILLIAM C. DE. R00

f1 mm TTORNEYS April 18, 1950 J. H, VAN ALSBURG ETAL 5 9 AIR DISTRIBUTOR Filed June 17, 1946 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 r aiii f I 3 s Mvambas daRoLo H. VAN ALSBURG WMM Q. DE. R00

Patented Apr. 18, 1950 AIR DISTRIBUTOR Jerold- H. Van Alsburg and William C. De R00, Holland, Mich, assignors to Hart & Cooley Manufacturing Company, Holland, Mich., a

corporation of Delaware Application June 17, 1946, Serial No. 677,202

2 Claims. 1

The present invention is directed to distribution of air and in practical use, as disclosed, is used at the outlet end of an air carrying conduit or pipe through which th air is circulated and by means of our invention, the air may be laterally directed and distributed in varying amounts in the different directions which it may go.

It is an object and purpose of the present invention to provide an air distributor for the purpose stated which is of an economical construction, readily and easily applied or installed, and very simply and easily adjusted for varying the quantity of air distributed in selected directions of movement thereof and which, as to its outer appearance when in use, is of an attractive form and is not unsightly, but adds to the appearance of a room in which it is located.

I An understanding of the invention may be had from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which,

Fig. 1 is a vertical section substantially n the plane of the line l--| of Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section through the air distributor as it is installed at the inner side of a wall of a room.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary somewhat enlarged horizontal section of the central portion of the distributor.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2' of a modified form of structure- Fig. 5 is a vertical section substantially on the plane of line 5--5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary horizontal section, similar to Fig. 3, of the modified form of construction.

Fig. '7 is a perspective view of one of a plurality of sections used in the modified form of structure to make the inner conical and fluted air directing cone thereof.

Fig. 8 is a vertical section substantially on the plane of line 88 of Fig. 9 of afurther form of the invention and,

Fig. 9 is a transverse section substantially on the plane of line 99 of Fig. 8.

All of the sectional views are taken in the directions indicated by the arrows, and like reference characters refer to like parts in the several figures of the drawings.

The air distributor of our invention is installed at the inner side of the wall of a room over the outer end of an air carrying flue or conduit. Portions of the wall, such as the lath at l and plaster at 2, are shown in the drawings and at an opening therein over which the air distributor is located, a ring or frame member 3 of sheet metal is positioned having a, wall extending into the opening, which is turned outwardly so that its outer side is. substantially flush with the inner plaster side 2. of the room, wall, and is thenbent into an angular form as indicated at 4 the terminal flange or leg of which is, covered by the plaster. The delivery end of the air flue or conduit 5 is surrounded by the.- ring or frame 3;. Air is moved or circulated or forced in an outward direction through the due 5, as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 2, and if: nothing, more in the way of structure was used, would move directly in line with the axis of the line 5 horizontally outward as a solid current of air.

The air distributor of our invention includes a base plate. 6 of thin sheetv metal, at, its. ed es provided with a head 1 concaved. atits outer side. Plate 6 has a. central opening, preferably larger than the cross sectional area of the flue 5. Said plate 6 lies against the ring member- 3, and is secured thereto by screws, as shown. An outer plate 8 also of sheet metal is connected with the bead I by means of a plurality of yielding or spring. fingers 9, which may be inserted through slots at the inner sides of the beads, as many as necessary, the edges. of the plate 8 being spaced a short distance from the inner sides, of the head 1:. Thus there is a continuous relatively narrow space all around the plate 8 for the outward pas.- sage of air. The plate 8 is. provided with a central opening I0, which. may be of acircular form which is covered by a plate ll, of a materially larger diameter than. the diameter of the opening Ill. The base plate 6 and the plate 8, shown as of generally rectangular form with rounded corners, may, of course, be varied inv outline. Likewise the flue 5, indicated in Fig. 1 as. of 8. rectangular outline, may also be differently shaped with departing from the invention.

At the inner side of they outer plate 8, a. conicaland radially fluted air directing member [2 is located, the central conical portion of which. pro.- jects toward the delivery end of the flue 5. From the apex of the cone outwardly, a plurality of spaced outwardly pressed ribs or flutes l3 extend as shown in- Fig. 1. In the construction, shown in Fig. 1, also in Fig. 8, the flutes are generally radially disposed and progressively increase in heighth from the apex of the cone outwardly nearly to their outer ends, and are spaced approximately equal distances from each other.

They vary in length, the diagonally disposed flutes being longer than the others and the vertically disposed flutes somewhat shorter than those horizontally located. This provides a series of channels between th flutes whereby when air is forced in an outward direction from the flue 5, it is directed outwardly and laterally by the curved bottoms of the channels between the flutes and passes out at the narrow slot-like openings between the edges of the plate 8 and inner sides of the beads I.

Such air directing member, as shown in Fig. 3, is yieldingly held against the inner side of the plate 8 by a coiled tension spring I4, connected at one end to a threaded stem I5 having a nut screwed on its outer portion which passes centrally through the circular plate II and at its other end to a bridge I6 secured within the apex of the cone.

When the cone apex is at the geometric center of the flue 5, the air is equally distributed through the narrow outlet openings around the edges of the plate 8. It is evident that the inner fluted cone member has a range of adjustment, limited by the size of the opening I0, and that the cone member I2 may be shifted over the inner side of the plate 8 to a large number of different positions and will be yieldingly retained in any position to which moved by the tension spring I l. The conical member I2 and the plate II in such change ofposition are moved together relative to the fixed plate 8, with opening I always closed by plate I I. Therefore, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a greater amount of air is directed to the left as the apex of the cone is a limited distance to the right of the central axes of the flue 5, whereby a larger amount of air coming from the flue 5 is directed against the left hand portion of the fluted conical surface. By shifting'th'e conical member to diiifere'nt of the indefinite number of positions to which it may be moved, the quantity of air passing from the air distributor may be widely 'varied as to the amounts that flow in different directions.

In Figs. 4 to 6 inclusive, the structure is identical except with respect to the inner flute conical air distributor member. Instead of being made from a single plate of sheet metal I2, it is made of a plurality of sections I'I, each substantially a conical sector, which at its apex end is formed with a horizontal ear I8 having a central opening through and with a flute I30; at one edge. In the construction shown in Figs. 4 to '7, the air carrying'flue is of circular form and the cooperating parts of the structure have circular outlines-to correspond. The various sectors may be disposed with the ears IB in superimposed relation (Fig. 6) and with side edges overlapping. A bolt I9 passes'through the openings in all of the superimposed ears I8 for connecting them together and to the inner end of the bolt, a tension spring 20 is connected at one end, the other end having connection to a headed pin 2| passing centrally through the plate II, serving the same purpose as the spring I4 in the previously described structure.

With'the structure shown in Figs. 4 to 7 inclusive, the several sectors may be adjusted with respect to each other varying the positions of the flutes [3a as to spacing with a corresponding variation in the passage of air. And, of course,

the fluted conical composite structure made up of all of the sectors connected together is changeable as to position, the same as in the previously described structure within the limits described by the opening I6.

In Figs. 8 and 9, the structure is substantially identical with that shown in Figs. 1 and 2, except that the fluted conical inner plate I2 is fixed in position and is not adjustable over the inner side of the plate 8. This permits an elimination of the retaining clips 9, plate II and spring I4, the outer plate 8 and the conical fluted plate I2, also the plate 6, being all secured in place by a plurality of screws 22 having spacing sleeves 23 aro'undthem between the wall plate 6 and the conical plate I2. With such construction a variation in the distribution of the air through the outlet slots between the edges of the outer plate 8 and the bead I is not obtained, butthere will be a substantially equal distribution all around the plate 3.

The construction described is one readily and easily manufactured from thin or light sheet metal, the assembly is readily made and installation is simple and easy.

The invention is defined in the appended claims and is to be considered comprehensive of all forms of structure coming within their scope.

We claim: 1

1. An air distributor comprising an air conduit having an outlet opening,- a plate larger than said outlet opening and spaced therefrom-providing an air passage substantially around its entire periphery, a substantially conical deflector being located against said plate and adjustable thereon laterally of said opening and the apex of the deflector extending toward said outlet opening means for fastening said deflector to said late in adjusted position, said conical deflector being composed of a series of segments adjustable relative to each other about said apex and an upstanding rib on each segment extending radially of said apex. I

2. The elements of claim 1 in which said segments are of sheet material overlapping each other and the dimension of the arc of the periphery of each segment is greater than the ratio of the number of segments to the entire circumference of the base of the deflector.

JEROLD H. VAN ALSBURG. WILLIAM C. DE R00.

REFERENCES orrnn The following references are of record in th file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS I 

